🦴Protect your furry friends: Avoid these potentially harmful dog treats
DreamBone, a brand of dog chews made by conglomerate Spectrum Brands Holdings, is facing accusations from pet owners and food safety watchdogs of sickening hundreds of pets and causing the recent death of a Pekingese. Liz Brannen, the owner of the Pekingese, Boogie, claims that her dog became violently ill and died after consuming DreamBone Twists.
According to Brannen, Boogie began vomiting and experiencing bloody diarrhea shortly after eating the treat, and within 24 hours, the dog had passed away. Brannen stated that Boogie was perfectly healthy prior to consume the treat and that it is "troubling" that a company would sell a product that can be harmful to dogs.
DreamBone chews are sold at major retailers, including Walmart, Target, and Chewy.
There has been a significant increase in complaints about DreamBone dog treats over the past few months, according to Safelyhq.com, a website that tracks consumer health and safety issues. The website has received 70 complaints about DreamBone this year, almost twice as many as in the previous year, with the majority coming in since October.
The founder of Safelyhq, Patrick Quade, stated that the sudden increase in reports and the severity of harm caused by DreamBone is particularly concerning. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also received several dozen complaints about DreamBone from concerned pet owners, but is unable to respond to each individual case.
DreamBone has been mentioned in hundreds of posts on various websites, including Amazon, blogs, and social media platforms such as Reddit, by customers whose dogs have become sick or died after consuming the treat.
Spectrum Brands issued a statement at the time to the news station: “The health and safety of all dogs who enjoy our DreamBone products is our highest priority. We believe there is no merit to these allegations and we stand behind the quality and safety of our DreamBone products.”
Logan Rothstein, who believes his 8-year-old Chihuahua, Hercules, died in 2019 because of DreamBone, has waged a three-year campaign – reaching out to the FDA, retailers, and the media – to raise awareness about the number of complaints against DreamBone.
“I don’t think Spectrum makes a consistently bad product,” Rothstein said. But he believes because the product is made overseas that, it likely has “very little quality control.”